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OF NEW YORK 




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AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



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AUTOBIOGRAPHY 

of 

JOHN FRANCIS HYLAN 



MAYOR OF 
NEW YORK 



AUTHORIZED EDITION 



THE ROTARY PRESS 

156 BROADWAY, NEW YORK 



.6 



Copyright, 1922 
Geo. F. Dobson, Jr. 



J(iL 26 72 

©CI.Ati77650 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



An Appreciation ..... 


5 


Foreword 


7 


Introduction ..... 


9 


Mother's Advice in Starting Out 


. 13 


School and Romance .... 


. 21 


Law and Politics ..... 


. 27 


The First Dollar and Friends 


. 33 


Fighting the Enemy .... 


. 41 



An Appreciation 



AN APPRECIATION 



I zvish to acknowledge with due appreciation the services 
rendered me by Mr. George F. Dohson, Jr., who has been 
kind enough to bear zvith me while I have in snatches of 
time tried to recall some of the outstanding things in my 
life that the^y' may be published in the form of an Auto- 
biography, and I may say tJiat I shall be compensated if any 
one shall be brought to see my life in its true lighti as I have 
sincerely tried to live it. 




Mayor of New ¥< 



Forword 



FOREWORD 



The story of the Hfc of John Francis Ilylan, and the many 
interesting facts of his career, were ()l)tained by the writer after 
many fruitless efforts, and tlien only after complete confidence had 
been established that no political aim or motive was the moving 
consideration, but that an interested public had formed an inquir- 
ing mind concerning the Mayor who had so wrought as to occupy 
an unique position in the thought and imagination of millions of 
people, and therefore the story may be said to be more than any- 
thing else the result of a popular demand. 

The voice of the great masses is always a command. They wish 
to know the private life and history of their servants. 

There are so many interesting phases to Mayor 1 Tylan's life 
that it was difficult for me, as a news representative of the New 
York Globe, in which first appeared these articles, and which were 
received with such wide interest, to frame any kind of an account 
of his life that would quite equal a simple story in his own words, 
and so the Mayor consented to recite in the form of an Autobi- 
ography the more salient points in his career, and since the public 
has res])on(led with such universal praise and a])proval of the 
])ul)lication of the l)iography, we are pleased, with the Mayor's 
consent, to publish his life in ]:)ermanent form. 

The recital is therefore in no sense a political vehicle nor a bid 
for votes, as any unprejudiced mind will discover in reading the 
simple story of a man accustomed to the simple things of life, a 
lover of his liome and an esteemed neighbor. 

Surelv a man who has been re-elected Mayor of New York City 
for four years more of unbroken service by an unprecedented 
]:>lurality of almost 420,000 with a \ntQ of 750,247 need not ask 
nor a|X)logize for a |)urview that would reveal a life so absorbingly 
interesting. 

His story, told in such graphic manner, shows the possibilities 
of the American youth of any station. Born of poor parents, he 
was denied sufficient education, but he persevered and his tenacity 
has placed him at the head of the greatest city in the world. iM/en 
his political enemies — and he has no others — l:ave never dared to 
impugn his honesty or sincerity. 

An idea of what is involved in his task in the New York City 
Hall can be Hf'nnf'fl from the following facts. 



8 Greatest Business in the World 

NEW YORK CITY: 

Annually has a turn-over of about $2,000,000,000 in its financies. 

Has a budget of $350,000,000. 

Employs more than 80,000 persons. 

Has about 12,000 policemen, 6,000 firemen and 6,500 street 
cleaners. 

Has more than 1,600 miles of paved streets in its three boroughs. 

Had a death rate, in 1921, of 11.17 per thousand, the lowest in 
its history and the lowest of any large city in the world. 

Has in the public schools alone 900,000 students. 

Handles approximately 250,000,000 tons of f reiglit in its harbors 
every year. 

It is unquestionably the greatest business enterprise in the world 
today. 

GEO. F. DOBSON, JR. 



INTRODUCTION 



Men are seriously discussing- from the platform and the forum 
whether democracy has failed or is simply imperiled in this 
country. 

Some of the most thoughtful publicists, as well as many who 
could possibly be dignified by the title of statesmen, do not pause 
to openly declare, supported by many disquieting facts (although 
their logic does not appeal to any considerable number), pur- 
porting to substantiate the claim that democracy has actually 
failed in this country. 

One does not however have to accept the postulate of a Jere- 
miad or be moved by the disconsolate cry of a confirmed pessimist, 
to discover for himself an undercurrent of a political thought not 
altogether reassuring to the protagonists of free democratic gov- 
ernment. 

Without going into any of the basic reasons for any failure that 
may rightfully be or not charged to our free government there 
is a jimson weed growth on the surface of an otherwise beautiful 
political landscape that should at least have the attention of the 
gardener. 

Our freedom has been taken for license and the license has 
grown into a species of political expediency. 

One of the outward manifestations of this political wart is its 
prominence on the face of almost every local, state and national 
contest of contending factions, where principles are supposed to 
govern politics and policies, but where in fact political expediency 
assumes the role of determining the course of action. In the last 
analysis it resolves itself into a contest as to whose ox is to be 
gored. 

There is a deep seated conviction amonc^ the people that our 
politicians are not salient but cxnedient in their thouffht and that 
the virus of it has reached the fountainhead. An United States 
Senator said recentlv that if the nnestion were put squarely up to 
the people thev would abolish the United States Senate. 

A sorrowful aspect of this phase of political tendency is the false 
estimate placed upon principle and character in the equation of 
values. A public servant should be a man of deep conviction as 
to what is rio-ht, and have the character to back it up. This is 
fundamental in any free government. But when a public servant 



10 Have Newspapers Lost Leadership 

is chosen with any other idea in mind the disposition is to reduce 
him to an automaton and subject him to the whim and caprice of 
every form of discontent, or privilege, and have it understood that 
the price of his resistance is castigation and the discard. 

It is not surprising therefore that many of our very best citizens 
positively refuse to assume the duties of citizenshij) insofar as pub- 
lic office is concerned. They are not willing that their good names 
shall be cartooned and lampooned ; that their wives and children 
shall look into their faces and wonder if it is possil)le that an 
irresponsible mounte1)ank can know more of the virtues of a father 
than the wife and child around the hearthstone; that a snickering, 
sniveling snarl shall be lifted against them l)y a jaundiced eyed and 
nagging public, who have been taught through the ril)ald and rasp- 
ing satire of some smart chap, whose urge is the dignified but none- 
theless virulent proscription of editors, which for lack of a better 
term is best described as editorial billingsgate, emanating from 
sources from which the public has a right to expect the best but 
gets the worst, that one of the vested rights of the press is to hold 
up in contempt any public official that may not square to its 
standard of measurement. So the heartless paragrapher and the 
phrase maker, who too frequently mistake sauce for sense and 
taunt for talent proceed with their 1)ombardnient of words and 
the people, more or less as a jest, in answer throw up an eml)ank- 
ment and with pop guns shoot votes at them. 

It is with no disrespect for the great purveyors of news and 
thunderers of editorial philippics to ask (and it is not an imper- 
tinent bolshevistic quiz but what the average subway hound hurls 
about with reckless abandon), whether the modern newspaper is 
losing its ancient leadership, especially in times when great issues 
come to head and where the information of the public is obtained, 
not so much from a "carefully culled column," as from well settled 
convictions as to the real facts in the case? 

Is it possible for a great journal to lose community perspective 
and circulate to its own hurt and embarrassment? 

There are many things, however, that could enter into this 
a]:)parent lack of ])ower. The editor might ])era(l venture be off 
on a journey a-yachting, or he might be a-golphing ! 

Or it may be the "seasonal fag," so characteristic of individuals 
at times, when sweet repose in the lap of self complacency, folds 
its hands and "drifts gently down the tides of sleep," while with- 
out is the bustle of activity and in the tree tops is heard the rustle 



Broke All Precedents 1 1 

of the leaves and the watchman in the tower with insistence cries, 
"swift, swift, ye dragons of the night," and there is perceptible 
movement among all except those on whom "the timely dews of 
sleep" have fallen while ''idly busy rolls their world away"; in 
any event there is an astonishing disparity between the polished 
sentences of the average newspaper and the acts of the ordinary 
citizen, saying nothing as to who is right. They may have been 
together and seen each other face to face in former years, but not 
now. 

It may be that the fathers have eaten sour grapes ; anyhow the 
children's teeth are set on edge. 

One of the most outstanding personal triumphs of a man over 
just that condition of affairs was the recent re-election of John 
F. Hylan as Mayor of New York by an unprecedented plurality 
of almost four hundred and twenty thousand votes in a total 
of seven hundred and fifty thousand, and as the volume 
of his acclaim arose the "mocking winds were piping loud" 
and shot holes through the sails of every floating craft aft the 
stern of a whole battery of newspapers that espoused his defeat. 

To sum it all up Mayor Hylan broke all precedents in New 
York politics, not because he was a ])olitician, for he is no such 
thing, not because he had an un1)reakable machine, for he does 
not know how to work that kind of a machine but because he 
stood dehnitely for certain things, and he stood there with an un- 
yielding tenacity and a dauntless courage, and behind it all was an 
unimpeachable character, a man of honesty and integrity, a neigh- 
bor and a friend, and a man whose private and family life were 
beyond reproach. 

Therefore the Autobiography of Mayor Hvlan is of more than 
usual interest as a source of intimate knowledge of this remarkable 
man and an inspiration of the youth of the land, and a conclusive 
refutation to the claim that democracy has or will fail so long as a 
farmer boy, a common railroad labor hand, a driver of sjiikes in a 
construction gang, a fireman on a train, can rise through sheer 
merit to the position of being the governing head of the greatest 
city in the world, and the most talked of man in the United States, 
except the President himself. 

WILLIAM T. AMIS. 



Mother^s Advice in Starting Out 



Chapter I 
MOTHER'S ADVICE IN STARTING OUT 



If I were asked to suggest a motto for any man or woman just 
starting out in life, I unhesitatingly would repeat the words of 
my mother at the time I left our farm in the, Catskill Mountains 
to make my way in the city. These words arjs indelibly imprinted 
in my memory. They were : 

"Be honest, be truthful, be upright, and do by others as you 
would have them do unto you." 

Any message to the youth might be much longer, but those 
words are sufficient. One might add that a boy, for instance, 
should never be afraid of hard work. It never has killed a boy. 
My experience in life has firmly convinced me that work is always 
more beneficial than harmful. Neither does it pay to be selfish or 
avaricious. A boy should never decline to perform a task which 
will make things easier for another. In order to succeed one cannot 
be selfish. If you make rosy the path for another, your own path, 
beyond any doubt, will be bright. 

The lesson involved in this message applies equally to rich and 
poor, to the city lad as well as to the farmer's son. Principle is 
not a matter of geography or of surroundings. 

I was born on a little farm in Hunter, Greene County, in the 
Catskill Mountains, on April 20, 1868, and was chistened John 
Francis Hylan. It sounds, perhaps, a trifle more romantic to city 
folk than it does to such as were bred in the Catskills, when I 
recall that I romped a section only eight miles away from the 
legendary home of Rip Van Winkle. We never took seriously that 
legend, although I have made many trips to the spot from our farm. 

We used to go there quite frequently on a Sunday, looking on 
the trip more as a picnic or outing than a visit to some famous spot- 
Frankly, we were more intent on getting the luscious blueberries 
which grew and still grow on the mountainside. Naturally, I 
cannot conceive of any berries which compared with those blue- 
berries. Of course we knew the story of Rip Van Winkle, but 
I am afraid the berries were more of an attraction than the legend. 

I was the oldest of three boys, but had two older sisters ; they are 
all dead now, as are my father and mother. The last one to pass 
away was Mary, a sister who was run down and killed by an auto- 



14 Of Irish Descent 

ino1)ile in Brooklyn, July 10, 1911. A jjrothcr, who also had come 
to Brooklyn, died about twenty years ago from typhoid. Today I 
am without any close blood relative, and quite naturally it is a 
source of regret that my parents, brothers and sisters all passed 
away before I became Mayor of the greatest city of the world. I 
have several cousins living and an uncle in Long Beach, California. 

It has often been said that I was of pure Irish stock, but that is 
not quite correct. My mother was what is known as an up-state 
Yankee, named Jones. Her father was a Welshman and her 
mother's grandfather a Frenchman, named Jacob Gadron. The 
latter came to this country with Lafayette, and fought in 1777 with 
him in the Revolutionary War. He was buried in Westchester 
County. 

My mother has been dead for more than thirty years, but I still 
remember her* as a wonderful woman, a good wife, and a loving- 
mother. She meant a great deal to me, while she was here and 
later in life. 

My father came here at the age of seven, from the County of 
Cavan, Ulster, Ireland. I still recall his vivid description of the 
trip to this country in a sailing vessel, which took more than a 
month to cross the Atlantic. He was a veteran in the Civil War, 
a corporal in the 120tli New York Infantry, which later became the 
Eightieth, New York. 

My parents had a farm in Hunter, in the Catskills, when that 
section was not what it is today, when it was wild and not so 
popular a playground for vacationists. There were many farms 
thereabouts and few hotels. Today it is a different story. That 
section of the Catskills is built up, and particularly in the summer 
is thriving and bustling with holiday seekers. 

We had about sixty acres in our farm, but also a mortgage of 
$1,500, a constant source of worry to everyone in our household. 

Being the oldest boy, I had to pitch in and do a great deal of 
the farm work. These duties included the chores morning and 
night, which were not considered a part of the day's work with 
farmers in those days. It was a case of being called at 5 o'clock 
every morning, then milking the cows, attending to the chores, 
and ])erforming like tasks until 7 o'clock, wheni the breakfast bell 
would ring. After that meal we began the day's real work, and 
worked steadily, particularly in the haying time, until noon, when 
lunch offered a respite. 



Unloads Hay While Resting 15 

It was digging or hoeing potatoes, cradling grain, mowing hay 
by hand, building the stone wall around the farm, milking the cows, 
and work of that type. There was no time for rest. I can even 
remember my father calling us smilingly during the lunch hour, 
after we had been perhaps ten or fifteen minutes ati the table: 

''Come on, boys," he would say, "let's unload that hay during 
lunch hour or while we are resting." 

We had no patented farm implements, none of the new-fangled 
machinery, and it was all handwork and muscle. When it was time 
for bed we were always ready for sleep. That usually was around 
9 o'clock, although much depended on when darkness set in. Until 
the sun set, irrespective of the clock, we kept at it. 

In that way little thought was given to school or education when 
the weather would permit the tilling of the farm. The work of 
the farm was the first essential, and school was a secondary con- 
sideration, particularly in the season for planting and harvesting. 
If the elder children could be spared from the farm for the day, 
we could go to school, but otherwise school could get along with- 
out us, as planting and harvesting must be attended to when the 
weather would permit. 

As a result of that situation I was unable to attain as good an 
education as I desired. Because T was the oldest boy the necessi- 
ties of the farm quite naturally fell heaviest on my shoulders. The 
custom of farmer boys was to go barefooted most of the time. 
In fact, we never had more than one pair of boots or shoes in any 
one year. And those we wore in the winter only. It was u]^ to 
us to make that ])air last through the rigors of the winter months, 
for we never had a second pair in the same year. 

Our school averaged thirty boys and girls from the surrounding 
countryside. T can rememl)cr particularly one teacher. Her name 
was Bella Ford. She taught us reading, writing and arithmetic. 
Since I was sometimes mischievous, I had, occasionally, to make it 
a practice to ^Q.t back into her good graces. Sometimes it meant 
shovelling off the snow on the walk from the road to the school- 
house, sweep out the classroom, and quite frequently build the fire. 

Grammar was taught in our school, and also some historv. but 
there was onh^ one familv, named McGinness, which could afford 
the grammar books, and the three girls of that family were the 
onlv ones who were tausrht pTammar. However, I used to smug- 
gle in once in a while by the fireplace when the "-rammar recitations 
were on, having borrowed that single grammar book so as to follow 



He Borrowed One Dollar 17 

the lesson. And the same thing happened in regard to history, 
in which I was always interested. 

We had ahout five months' schooHng each year, perhaps four or 
five hours each day. 

All that time we had that mortgage over us and as I reached my 
teens 1 went out and earned a little side money each spring by 
working on George Coykendall's railroad, which ran through the 
mountains and was part of the Stony Clove and Catskill railroad 
system. The winter storms always played havoc with xUq railroad 
tracks, and each spring there had to be considerable mending done 
to the roadl^ed. For that work T used to get $1.10 a day. 

It meant removing the dirt from the side of the roadbed and 
tamping under the railroad ties to make firm the roadbed from 
winter ravages. The road later became part of the Ulster and 
Delaware system. That was my first experience with railroads. 

Wlien T reached the age of nineteen and winter was on us, with 
that mortgage interest nearly due again, I became restless and told 
my folks I thought I could help more successfully by trying my 
luck in the city. They tried to dissuade me, but T insisted on the 
experiment. 

I had saved $2.50 through my work on the railroad and I went 
to a neighbor to borrow a dollar to add to my fortune. It was 
then that my mother put her arms around me and gave me the 
advice I have quoted. I have never forgotten her words. At the 
risk of being accused of egotism, I want to say her words have 
alwavs been with me. I have faithfully followed the tenets of 
her farewell message to me. 

I had a Sunday suit, a working suit, two shirts, summer under- 
wear, a pair of shoes, a pair of overalls, a toothbrush, a little 
comb in mv pocket, and that was all that constituted my outfit to 
impress the citv folks. One of mv brothers was at the time help- 
lessly ill, and another brother was too young to earn his living. 
With the $3.50 I started out, riding by stage to Catskill Village, 
and thence by boat to New York Citv. 71iat trip cost me all told 
^2. so I landed in New York Citv with $1.50. In mv inside pocket 
T had a letter of introduction to some Brooklyn man, given to me 
by one of our neighbors. I never used the letter, as it tu*"ned out. 

When I reached New York Cit^'. of course T was amazed, but T 
did not lose heart. T went over the Brooklyn Bridge to Brooklyn, 
and the first thing T snw of interest was some construction work on 
the elevated system. T climbed up the s'^ructure nnd applied to the 



18 Promoted to Stoker 

foreman for a job. Of course I explained to him that I had worked 
on the Catskill railroad, and he immediately ordered me to report 
to work the next morning. Not having seen an elevated railroad 
before in my life, I was naturally a trifle apprehensive about work- 
ing up that high, but the necessities of the occasion stilled my fears. 

The next morning I was laying rails, more intent on keeping my 
balance and not falling to the street from the high structure than 
on my work. In driving a spike the second day I had my job 1 
hit one of my fingers a hard smash, almost breaking it, but did 
not dare tell the foreman for fear I should be dismissed. I still 
carry a scar fron-^ that blow. In spite of the pain, I kept at my 
task. 

From that work I graduated into a stoker on the road, which 
Vv^as known as the Brooklyn Union Elevated Railroad. I had 
finished with the construction work and had applied for the 
stoker's place to a Colonel Martin, general manager of the road. 
He had, in his outer office, a fellow named John Davis. Day after 
day I went to this Davis and pleaded to get into the inner sanctuary 
of Colonel Martin, but always was politely put ofif. 

Each day, however, I went away smiling, and finally Davis was 
im]:)ressed with my persistence and my smile, and he eventually 
ushered me into Colonel Martin's room. The next day I started 
work as a stoker, receiving $1.60, happy in the thought that this 
job might lead to one higher up. The engineers in those days 
were getting $3.50 a day, and that, of course, to me was a fortune. 

For two years I worked as a stoker and what was known as an 
engine hostler, always keeping friendly with John Davis. The 
result was he helped me get my promotion as an engineer when 
I had passed the test, and so finally landed on the right side of the 
engine cab. I think that was one of the ha]^i)iest moments of 
my life. 

John Davis remained a friend until his death only a short time 
ago. But he lived to see me elected .Mayor of New York Citv, 
and he was proud of it. T remained on the elevated road, all told, 
nine years. As an engineer, I had a run starting at 2 o'clock in 
the afternoon. It was a thlrteen-hour run. excei)t on Saturdays, 
wlien it was twelve, and on Sundavs, when it was eleven hours. 



School and Romance 




]OHN H. McCOOEY 



ClIAPTEli II 

SCHOOL AND ROMANCE 



All this time I had managed to save enough to send to my par- 
ents tliat ^75 interest money every six months and perhaps some 
folks v^ill reahze what tiiat meant to them. When my nine years 
with the elevated road were concluded I had also saved enough to 
pay off that mortgage of $1,500. Only those who are mortgage- 
ridden can appreciate what that meant. 

It was in connection with the interest payments that I first laid 
eyes on John H. McCooey, now Democratic leader of Brooklyn. 
In those days McCooey was in charge of Station S of the post- 
office, located at Myrtle and Sumner avenue. When I had saved 
the first $75 1 went to that postoffice totally ignorant of how to 
proceed with my money. There was a jovial, kindly fellow in the 
branch office, and I pleaded with him for help. He made out the 
draft for me and thus I sent the money. 

Some months later I had occasion to go to the general postoffice 
on Washington street in Brooklyn to cash a small money order, 
and I was asked to identify myself. Hopelessly I looked around 
for some means of identification, when I espied that jovial, kindly 
face which I had first noticed in Station S. He immediately iden- 
tified me, and I cashed my order. That man had become assistant 
postmaster of Brooklyn, and he quickly O. K.'d my money order 
for me. I then learned he was John H. McCooey, and we have 
been friends ever since that time. 

Our farm today is in other hands. It has been sold, except for 
a small corner where we have built a cottage. Often I go back 
there, for I love to roam in the old section, despite its changes from 
my boyhood days. Other people own the sixty acres, except for 
that little corner plot, but it is still dear to me. Whenever oppor- 
tunity offers I take a trip up to Hunter, and it is always a respite. 

Reverting to my boyhood days and the time of my youthful 
])ranks, I can remember that I was al^out as mischievous as the 
next boy. Well do I recollect tliat when I was whipped in school 
for some prank it followed like night and day that my father would 
repeat the punishment as soon as I went home. That was quite 
a customary procedure in our section. The school punishment 
was only the first part and the home treatment was always more 
severe. 



22 Claiming His Sweetheart 

I can remember two or three good thrashings my father gave me, 
but I well deserved them. At school my sweeping or the buildmg 
of fires, as penance, usually replaced me in the good graces of 
Miss Bella Ford. 

1 can remember also, as if it occurred only a few weeks ago, one 
of the serious scrapes I fell into. We had a teacher named Hoff, 
and at the time he was not over popular with our class. One day 
I made a jumping- jack and, reachmg tlie school early, proceeded 
to so hang it that it looked almost like a halo over the teacher's 
desk. Then 1 ran a string along the panel, the end of which 
reached my desk. 

When everything was going along quietly in the class 1 i)ulled 
the string, and of course every one began to giggle and titter. 
Finally the teacher "caught on," and he immediately sought to 
discover the miscreant. I was the only serious one in the room, 
and probably too serious. I was blamed for the affront to the 
teacher, and was rewarded with a severe chastisement. Of course, 
the news was conveyed to my home, and that night there was a 
duplication by father's stern arm. 

Naturally, I had my romance. On the next farm to us was Peter 
O'Hara, and he had a daughter, Marian. We were sweethearts, 
even before I came to the city, and I knew what girl I wanted to 
marry. When I landed that job of stoker with the Brooklyn Union 
Elevated Road I decided the time had come, and went back to 
Hunter to claim my sweetheart. I was getting $15 a week, no 
great money, it is true, but it was enough in those days, and we 
were married by Father Hugh O'Neill. It was he from whom I 
had made my first communion. We established ourselves in a 
little flat in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, and we have stayed 
ever since in that section. Now, of course, I own my own house 
there. 

Youthful marriages are often decried. I believe in them. I 
1:)elieve every young man and woman should marry, and I have 
done as much as I could in furtherance of my theory. There is 
a ])leasure in starting young ])eople off right in this world. And 
yet. peculiar as it may seem, I never have performed a marriage 
ceremony. I have always declined to do it when I was on the 
bench, and I have declined to do it as Mayor. 

Some may ask why this declination, when I so heartily believe 
in the marriage of young persons. The reason is that to me mar- 
riage is sacred. I believe it should be performed only by the cler- 



Taking up the Study of Law 23 

gymen of the dilTerent denominations. It is a holy ceremony to 
me, and 1 believe only holy men should officiate. That duty is for 
men of the cloth, and they alone, generally speaking, can give to 
it the touch of reverence which is so essential. 

Brooklyn had been our haven at tne start, and it remains my 
home, r first had reached it when it was still a city, the year l)e- 
fore the big blizzard of 1888. It was on the day of the blizzard 
that 1 reported for my first day's work as a fireman at the engine 
house of the elevated system in East New York. Naturally my 
promotion of that day is still fresh in my mind. 

However, when 1 became an engineer, had been married, and 
1 had settled down in our home, I confess I was more or less ambi- 
tionless. iMy mind was pretty well filled v/ith my job and with 
our domestic affairs. I was getting about $100 a month and 
probably had, quite unconsciously resigned myself to the ])ros- 
pect of spendirig the rest of my life running an engine on the 
elevated railroad. But about tliis time my younger brother, who 
was then preparing for the law,, and to work himself into a sub- 
stantial position, died. It was to him that the family had looked 
for distinction and fame. 

Vlvdt death changed my perspective. I conceived the idea that 
]>erha|)s I could carry our name to the i)lace whither my brother 
had been headed. I broached the subject, with some trepidation, 
to my wife. Her advice, on our first big problem, was sound — 
just as sound as it has always been since then. She decided I 
ought to take a chance and try to become a lawyer. 

It should be remembered that my country school days had not 
fitted me to take even the preliminary examination for legal study. 
The regents' examination was ahead of me before I could start 
studying law. But finally we decided I should take up the aca- 
demic course in the Long Island Business College, which was 
considered a good institution. 

I had a shift on the locomotive starting at 2 (/clock in the after- 
noon, and had to do some arranging at the college to make my 
classes. Furthermore. I did not have much time to slec]), since 
it was 2 and 3 o'clock in the morning before I left my engine. 
It was a case of arising each day at 8 o'clock, and Mrs. Hylan 
used to call me at 7 :30 and give me one-half hour of extra winks. 
That half-hour extra seemed to stimulate me for the day. I had 
a fine constitution, did not know what it meant to be sick, and 
discovered then that hard work is a splendid trainer and a good 



•i 



24 Being'^Good to a Friend 

builder. 1 still believe in it and follow the theory even at the 
City Hall. 

In the Long- Island College was a professor, Andrew Gerndt. 
He had taken a liking to me, and had offered to help me along 
in my studies. Knowing my ambition and realizing the difficulties 
entailed in an afternoon shift on the railroad, the professor, in a 
kindly spirit, gave up his lunch hour many a day in order to 
assist me. I have never forgotten that kind service. Professor 
Gerndt to-day is suffering from failing eyesight, so he cannot 
follow his profession. He is an elderly man, but I have been 
able since becoming mayor to repay his interest in me. The 
professor to-day holds a position in the Department of Water 
Supply, Gas, and Electricity. 

Likewise my wife was an able assistant. She actually prepared 
my lessons herself and would help to write out problems, answers, 
and lessons for me, to study on my engine. 

When I had passed the regents, Mrs. Hylan followed the same 
formula while I studied at the law school. 1 entered the New 
York Law School, and at the same time took a clerkship in the 
law office of James T. Olwell, a Long Island City attorney. Still 
driving my engine, I put in the requisite time at the law school 
and also at the law office. In that manner I covered, in about two 
and a half years, the necessary period. 

I can well remember how I tried to take my law examination 
in Brooklyn, but I had not put in quite the necessary law office 
work, being about ten days short, for the state examination, and 
I had to wait until the fall, when the next test was held in 
Syracuse. I had joined the Brotherhood of Locomotive En- 
gineers — in which I still hold my card — and through this mem- 
Ijership I managed to get up to Syracuse without spending any 
money. I rode in the cab of the locomotive to get there. 

I may as well confess right here that I was fired from that job 
as engineer, and it was the only time in my life that I ever was 
sei)arated from any job. It was a short time before I was to take 
my bar examinations in Syracuse, and I was busily studying law. 

I was in my engine one night when my train reached what is 
known as the Navy Street curve. At that spot there is a switch 
tower and in it was Superintendent Barton, who was a very old 
man. He stepped out of the switch tower and was about to cross 



Fired from His Job 25 

the tracks as my train reached the tower, and was nearly run 
down. It was his own fault, as a matter of fact, and not mine. 
I had slowed down the train for the curve, as the rules pro- 
vided, but Superintendent Barton, angered ])y his narrow escape, 
called me to his office and I was discharged, it was the first 
time in all of the nine years on the road that a charge of any 
kind was made against me. 



Law and Politics 



Chapter III 
LAW AND POLITICS 

( )f course I was liappy when I i)assecl my examination for tlie 
bar afler a little more than two and a half years' study in law 
scho(jl, which was pretty good for a country l)oy who had missed 
even a rudimentary school training. But there remained ahead 
the big task, that of establishing a law business. I had, by this 
time, paid off the mortgage on the farm, so that I could look to the 
future with less apprehension. I studied law under competent 
men, one of whom included Woodrow Wilson, who lectured on 
constitutional law at the New York Law School. Receiving my 
diploma in October, 1897, 1 started back to Brooklyn, only to 
lind that it takes money to open a law office and to hang out a 
shingle. 

There was only one thing to do — place a mortgage on the farm 
again, and this I did, for $500. Then taking desk room in a real 
estate office at Gates avenue and Broadway, I purchased from the 
realty man a second-hand desk. I remember very well how 1 
])aid him $8 for that desk, and he immediately went out and 
l)OUght himself a new one. But that real estate gentleman wanted 
to fly too high, and too quickly, and eventually I took over the 
whole office. At the start 1 liad ])aid him $5 a month for my 
flesk room. 

The first mon.th my law practice brought me just $24. The 
next month 1 made $26, then 1 made $48, and the fourth month T 
netted $80. 1 have the records to this day, and often look them 
over, although I can recall each event without recourse to any 
data. In a short time 1 was getting so busy that I was able to 
hire another lawyer at $25 a week. I had a stenographer at $10 
a week, and a clerk at $12. But T was beginning to build u]) a 
good litigation Imsiness of a civil nature. I had very little work 
in police courts, and never cared for that branch of the law. 

Of course, I worked hard, and found it i)aid best to make 
certain of victory in the lower courts every time. I won about 
seven out of ten cases in the lower courts, and in that way always 
forced my opponent to shoulder the expense of a|)])eals to the 
higher courts. Naturally every one tries to win his cases, but I 
believe my average of lower court triumphs was l)eyond the usual. 



28 Governor Glynn for Him 

My first partner, and also my only partner, in law was Harry 
C. Underhill, author of "Underbill on Civil and Criminal Evi- 
dence." He did the office work while I did the trial work. 

Starting law practice in 1897, I kept at it for nine years, just 
as I had been in the Brooklyn Union Elevated Railroad Company 
for nine years. My start in the judiciary, dating from 1906, was 
due to a discovery I made in the law affecting police magistrates 
in Brooklyn. 

There had been eight magistrates in Brooklyn, appointed by 
the mayor under the law. A legislative act was passed in Albany 
making Brooklyn magistrates elective instead of appointive and 
providing for ten instead of eight. Thereupon the eight sitting 
magistrates in Brooklyn having been appointed for certain periods, 
went to court and demanded that the ten subsequently elected 
magistrates be thrown out. The eight won their case and the 
ten were beaten. But there still remained in the law the provision 
for ten and not eight magistrates in Brooklyn. I discovered this 
fact, and immediately mandamused the then Mayor McClellan to 
till the two vacant places. 

Mayor McClellan under the court order named Alexander 
Geismar and myself to the two places. That is how I started my 
career on the bench. At that time it so happened that there were 
assigned to Brooklyn, or Kings County, under the law, only 
two county judges. A great deal of work had to be done in their 
courts, since Brooklyn was growing very rapidly, so I prepared a 
]:>roposed constitutional amendment and it was presented to the 
legislature, providing for two additional county judges. The 
work had become so heavy that up-state judges were being sent 
to Brooklyn to help out at $20 a day extra. 

Governor Glynn, after the constitutional amendment liecame 
effective, appointed Robert Roy and myself to the two places. 
But the politicians were not for us, and there started a battle to 
get us out. Judge Jaycox, sitting in the lower court, decided 
against us, and the Appellate Division, upholding Judge Jaycox, 
disrobed Roy and myself. We were not satisfied, however, and 
took the case to the Court of Appeals. We had 1:)een deprived of 
our office by a.i opinion written by Euke D. Stapleton and Almet 
F. Jenks in the Appellate Division. In the Court of Ai)peals 
there was a different story. 



Gives Way to Senator McCarren 29 

In a unanimous decision we were declared entitled to our places 
on the county bench, and we again took up our judicial work. 
One of those who concurred in that verdict was Emery A. Chase 
of Catskill, a worthy judge of the highest court in the state, a 
a man who had been, at one time, a teacher in our little school in 
Greene County. 

We served two years and were then renominated for the same 
places. To the surprise of many ])oliticians, the people in Brook- 
lyn gave me more than 37,000 plurality over my opponent. 

Living in the Ninth Senatorial District, I had been imbued, 
before reaching this stage of my career, witli an ambition to go 
to the state Senate. I had been cjuite busy in my district, as well 
as in the adjoining one, and belonged to the Democratic organiza- 
tion. Board of Trade, Business Men's, and Civic clubs in the 
P)Ushwick and Eastern District sections of Brooklyn. 

I may add here that I had paid ofT that $500 mortgage on the 
farm at this time, and had no other debts. 

When I broached the subject of my senatorial ambition to the 
late Senator Patrick H. McCarren, the leader of Brooklyn — and 
a powerful, resourceful leader he was — he shook his head nega- 
tively. He declared he already had promised the nomination to 
Connie Hasenflug, one of his trusted captains. He had given 
liis word of honor to Hasenflug, declared Senator McCarren, and 
lie emphasized that he never had broken his word. 

Arguing witli the senator that I held, safely in my hand, thirty- 
eight votes of the fifty-two necessary for the nomination, T con- 
vinced him of my strength. He saw I was right and then, 
frankly stating his position, pleaded with me to withdraw, so 
that he could not be accused of having broken faith with a friend 
and could not be charged with having broken his hrst promise. 

Now, I knew that trait in Senator McCarren, of being a man 
of his word, and I did not relish the idea of being the instrument 
of a l)roken promise. When Senator McCarren frankly con- 
ceded that 1 held the whip hand, I told him I would withdraw in 
favor of Hasenflug. The senator was not the kind to forget, 
and he didn't. He offered me immediately a nomination to 
congress, but T did not then care for such a i)lace, and declined 
to take it. Later, when the mandamus proceedings were instituted 
with Mayor McClellan to appoint two magistrates, Senator Mc- 



30 Elected by Sweeping Pluralities 

Carren was one of my staunchest supporters. He repaid the 
sacrifice I had made. 

It does not always pay, I have found, to grab everything that 
is in your grasp. There are times when a man will get something 
far better than he has in his grip by being liberal with the 
other fellow. Certainly, such was the case with my dealings with 
Senator McCarren. 1 had a high personal regard for him, de- 
spite the enemies he made. 

I remained in the County Court of Brooklyn until T became 
the mayor of New York City, Jan. 1, 1918. 

My ambition while on the bench was to go to the Supreme 
Court. Until then I never had dreamt of the mayoralty. Like 
most judges, I naturally looked to the higher court, and in my 
case it was the Supreme Court. 

When I was elected to the county bench l)y that 37,000 plurality, 
and some of the big political leaders began to take notice, I realized, 
once in a while, that I might be figuring in the next mayoralty 
election. In no sense was I seeking such a nomination, but I 
could see it was a possibility on the political horizon. And so it 
turned out. 

What happened subsequently is almost too well known to re- 
peat. The people gave me the first time I ran 148,000 plurality, 
with three other candidates in the field, and elected me over- 
whelmingly the second time by 420,000. 

The first time I was designated for mayor I was in Saratoga 
with Mrs. Hylan and my daughter, Virginia. We 'were staying 
at the United States Hotel when a telephone message came from 
New York for me. On the other end of the wire was Joseph 
Yeska, who has since died. He was president of the Business 
Men's League, and telephoned me that I had been selected to 
head the ticket. 

Immediately we packed our grips, and my wife, daughter, 
and I determined we should seek the quiet and seclusion of 
Hunter to get our bearings. So we returned to our old home 
town and stayed there for three days. Then we came back to 
New York to map out the campaign. 

Mrs. Hylan said the people knew my work on the bench, and 
she never once doubted the outcome. Personally I confess to 
some little fear, because I felt that while in Brooklyn I was 
known, yet there were four other boroughs to be reckoned with. 



Homage to Joseph Pulitzer 31 

I felt that if I could only show the residents of the other hor- 
oughs the sincerity of my purpose everything would he smooth 
sailing. Then came the attack on me from the World. 'J^o he 
quite frank, I regretted it deeply. One or two persors whom 1 
knew very well and whom 1 actually had he friended assisted the 
World, and that hurt more, I think, than the malicious and vicious 
attack of the paper. 

There was another phase of that attack which pained me. I 
had, almost religiously, followed the teachings of the elder Pu- 
litzer. I had studied his principles and had heen much impressed 
with them. 1 am free to say that anything I have accomplished 
in my jnihlic career is to a great extent due to his teachings, and I 
pay this homage to him and his memory hecause he deserves this 
credit. Of course, I have realized since then that any younger 
Pulitzer is not Joseph Pulitzer. 



The First Dollar and Friends 



Chapter IV 
THE FIRST DOLLAR AND FRIENDS 

Most men like to remember how they made their first dollar. 
I can recollect without any trouble, how I became possessed of 
the first one I ever earned. I was still in school and we had a 
neighbor named Hiram Carl. He had, grazing on the side of 
the mountain, a herd of cows, and he used to get me to drive the 
cattle into his barn-yard to be milked, which meant a steep 
climb up the mountainside. 

I kept track of what was coming to me by chalking up on a 
mammoth rock a mark for each day I drove in the cows. But 
when I had been working for many days for him a heavy rain 
came along and washed away my bookkeeping, leaving Hiram 
Carl and myself, neither of us very good at arithmetic, very much 
in the air as to our financial status. He compromised the bargain 
eventually by giving me a hatful of old-fashioned pennies. And 
when counted up that hatful of pennies constituted the first 
dollar I ever had earned. 

When I am asked to describe what was the proudest moment 
of my life, most persons would expect me to refer to my mayor- 
alty election. It is peculiar, yet true, that I probably derived 
more pride out of the fact that I was able to send my daughter 
to college than any occasion that I can think of. And to her 
credit be it said that she never missed a day in the four years at 
college. Not having had a college education myself, I realized, 
as I grew older, the value of it, and hence I worked hard to see 
that Virginia managed to get one. 

There was little or no political ambition in my early life. Of 
course, I never dreamed of being mayor of New York City. I 
was always a Democrat, probably following, like so many others, 
in my father's footsteps. He always had voted the Democratic 
ticket, and he was one of the few in Greene County that did. 
That county, of course, had been Republican nearly all the time. 
I then believed, and still believe, the Democratic party stands 
for the rights of the people, if the party leaders adhere to the 
principles of that party. Sometimes, of course, the leaders have 
drifted from the precepts, and that has occurred usually when 
the leaders, or those who sought to control, tried to use the party 



34 A Lover of Baseball 

for personal gain. Of course, no party has yet been discovered 
which is infalHble. The people are getting away from strict party 
ties, and are standing for humanity and principles, such as were 
enunciated by Abraham Lincoln. 

I remember when a youngster of visualizing how wonderful 
it would be to go to congress. It was, however, a far-off vision, 
and not even a hope. My idea of the real hero was Daniel Boone 
and men of his stamp, and western pioneers were my hobby. 

Youth did not afford me much chance for sports and games. 
Once in a great while I would manage to play baseljall with the 
other boys, but that was on rare occasions. There never was for 
me such pastime as tennis or golf. Baseball and swimming were 
about all I could have. To this day I have retained my love for 
baseball, and that is the only game I really have had time to know 
at all. Whenever the chance aff'ords, I attend the baseball games, 
and that is my real recreation. 

Several of my boyhood chums came to the city after I reached 
Brooklyn. There is one of them in Brooklyn now. He came to 
the city, only to find the pace was a little hard for him, and I 
managed finally to get him into the Park Department. 

Despite politics, I have never been a drinker nor a smoker, but 
that does not mean that I am for prohibition. I believe in per- 
sonal freedom, but do not feel impelled to discuss Mr. Volstead. 
I will leave that to others. 

My reading has been more of a legal and historical turn than 
any other. Of course, I like reading, and frequently enjoy a good 
book or light literature. For me there is nothing more restful 
than an evening at home, with a good book, after a hard day's 
work. I much prefer that to the theatre or other amusements. 
I appreciate, however, a good play occasionally, and a comedy or 
drama on the stage or on the screen interests me. 

Youthful environment unquestionably leaves its mark, and I 
believe this is exemplified, quite strongly, in the friendship and 
habits of later days. Sometimes I am told that I should not wave 
to or salute this or that person because I am the mayor. Duritig 
a parade, not long ago, a poorly dressed woman in the crowd 
yelled a greeting to me, and I turned around and waved back^at 
her. With me at the time was a man, who said: *'You should 
not do that, Mr. Mayor. You shouldn't pay attention to a common 
person like that. It isn't dignified." I replied : *TIow do you 



Criminal Class have no Standing 35 

know she is common? Because she is poorly clad does not mean 
that she is common." 

By the same token I heh'eve in sticking to friends and those in 
whom you have confidence. It is a duty to stand witli those 
who do right. Take, for example, the offices in this city of the 
Commissioner of Accounts and Police Commissioner, hotli very 
important in the municipality. The Commissioner of Accounts 
investigates all departments, and hence is of great aid to the 
mayor in kee])ing his finger on what is trans])iring in the variou'^ 
offices. There are those in many de]:>artments who are not satis- 
fied with their salaries, and they, perhaps, are tempted to do a 
little husiness on the side. These gentlemen are checked hy the 
Commissioner of Accounts and they are brought to an under- 
standing. Naturally, the politician and his friends become in- 
terested immediately to hel]) the departmental employe. \\'lien 
this class of politician finds he cannot use the Commissioner of 
Accounts and discovers he cannot cover up any misconduct on 
tlie part of some official in whom interested, the backfire is started 
to drive out of office the Commissioner of Accounts. Every avail- 
al)le weapon is used, even to ])ublicity in the newspapers, or some 
of them at least. 

\\ ith the Police Commissioner it is much the same thing. The 
])rinciple involved is identical. This commissioner has to deal 
more with crooks and the vicious elements, which find it hard 
and now impossible to make connections directly with the citv 
administration. But they are always attempting to make indirect 
connections with departments dealing with tlie administration of 
the penal law, in order to permit them to safely violate the law. 

T^rior to my administration many large gaml)ling places doing 
a thriving l)usiness were run in New York city, and run openly. 
Many disorderly houses flourished, as well as innumerable resorts 
Tff a (|uestionable character. Dissolute women infested the streets 
of our city. People interested in these pursuits have many in- 
fluential friends, and to me it is most amazing to find so many 
distinguished persons coming forward with aid when these ])eo- 
])le are in trouble. This type of business, in this administration, 
i^.as been driven out, and I hope for good. 

Naturally the gamblers and the |)roprietors of disorderly re- 
sorts, friends of dissolute women, have started their 1)ackfire on 
those who head the l\)lice Department. They wish to drive out 
these police heads and to keep driving them out because they 




RICHARD ENRIGHT 

Commissioner of Police 



Careful in All Details 37 

realize, and quite correctly, too, that constant changes in a police 
department are demoralizing to the force all along the line. It 
takes years of experience before a man can capably handle such 
a department. In the mean time, while an official is trying to 
straighten out a department, the vicious element is busily plying 
its trade quite unmolested. 

In the administration preceding mine I know of one instance 
in which a prominent man connected with a morning newspaper 
was very friendly with one of the big gamblers. This operator 
was allowed to go along and his business was never interfered 
with by any officer of the Police Department. The evening edi- 
tion of that newspaper likewise had another influential man who 
had great influence with the vice and gambling squad as it was 
then constituted. So it happened that when the little gamblers 
Ijccame too flourishing to suit the big operator, and so frisky as 
to hurt the big gambler, the vice and gambling squad would raid 
the little fellows, always exercising care to keep away from the 
])ig one. The big fellow's power never was challenged. 

The present head of the Police Department closed up that big 
operator when he assumed his task at headquarters. What was 
the result ? Why, the morning and evening editions of this news- 
paper immediately started the most vicious attack on the police 
head. They launched a tirade at him in order to drive him from 
offiice. The big gambler decided he was more at home in the real 
estate business under the circumstances surrounding his trade, 
Ijut he appears to have found that line none too lucrative, and 
he wants to get back at his old trade. But he realizes that cannot 
be done so long as the present commissioner at headquarters stays 
where he is. Therefore, there is a determined demand for a 
change from the friends of the gambler, and some of the news- 
papers support the demand. 

This is sufficient to show the reason for the attacks on the 
Commissioner of Accounts and the Police Commissioner. I shall 
stand by the heads of these and other departments to the l)itter 
end, when the attacks are malicious and thev are launched and 
Ijacked by the corrupt elements and their friends. 

It has often come to my ears that I am accused of having my 
speeches written for me by other persons. The fact of the matter 
is that not a speech nor even a letter is written for me except so 
far as concerns the physical labor. When I have a speech to 
make I invariably dictate it, practically in whole and certainly in 



38 Interested in Young Men 

substance, to a stenographer. Then it is prepared for me l)y the 
stenographer for my use. Likewise, my letters are dictated per- 
sonally, and very few, even among the more perfunctory ones, 
are left to other hands. 

I never have aspired to be an orator. Because of the fact 
that speeches can be condensed and that there is no chance of 
being misquoted, I always have prepared speeches, since i)eing 
mayor, that I have personally prepared, I have had some experi- 
ence with misquotations, and can name some very finished orators 
who for the same reason invariably had recourse to prepared 
speeches. 

It is quite customary for men on the bench to discuss their 
experiences, and they are generally interesting. As I look back 
upon my task as a judge I can unhesitatingly say that the most 
interesting phase of my judicial work was watching the young 
offender, the boy who has committed his first misstep. I dis- 
covered that fully 90 per cent, of first ofi^enders were not in- 
herently bad, and found that only 10 per cent, of those were intent 
on the wrong road. 

How many people realize that the city boy is constantly under 
the eye of the police? In other words, he is far more su1)ject 
to discipline, and perhaps hounding, than is the farmer's son. The 
result is, of course, that the city lad gets into more scrapes than 
does the country boy. 

I know to-day a great many young men who were l^rought be- 
fore me on the bench charged with a first- offense. I have seen 
those boys settle down and get married and turn out good citizens. 
I do not l)elieve in coddling the criminal by any means, but 1 
know of no greater satisfaction than putting on the right patli 
a young man who has only once transgressed. That is really 
a hobby with me. 







MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS 



Fighting the Enemy 



Chapter V 
FIGHTING THE ENEMY 

Since I became mayor there probably have been more investig:a- 
lions in onr fair city than ever faced an executive in this country. 
So fast (lid they come that it w^as ahiiost impossiljle to keep track 
of them or to remember their names. 

On the other hand, poHtics has provided me w^ith some pleasant 
memories. I can look back upon having shaken hands w^ith such 
sterling characters as David B. Hill, Grover Cleveland, Theodore 
Roosevelt, Thomas C. Piatt, James G. Blaine, Woodrow Wilson, 
William Jennings Bryan, William Howard Taft, etc. They were 
all great men or still are. I would decline to choose the leader 
from among them. Furthermore, in recent years I have met 
those world leaders Foch, Mercier, JoftVe, Prince of Wales, Kini;- 
Albert, De Valera, Pershing, Diaz, and a host of similar notables, 
h^very one of them impressed me as having the sincerity of pur- 
pose so essential for the people. All of them seemed to me to be 
intent with a desire to help humanity. Each, in his own sphere, 
was attempting to do the best that was in him. 

What do I think of women in politics? Well, I will say they 
came in at just the psychological moment. The trusts and mon- 
opolies, the Standard Oil interests, the little group of international 
l)ankers, and more particularly the food trust, controlling the 
very necessities of life, had just about discouraged the men voters. 
Like an octopus with countless tentacles, this group had reached 
out into every direction so successfully that men with any indi- 
viduality at all had lost hope. It was a discouraging outlook in- 
deed. Even the political machines were being swamped. 

Then fortunately came the women, independent and uncontroll- 
able in politics, with a better perspective than men, and as a rule 
unbiased by family traditions or inherited impressions. They put 
into the political world a new impetus. They swung the tide 
against those seeking to control the country by what has 1)een 
aptly termed the invisible government, which reaches into the 
inner congressional and legislative halls of every section. So 1 
say I haii the arrival of women in politics. Their influence will 
grow as they grasp the fundamentals of the princij)les involved. 
Thev will see that their votes count. 



42 He is Not a Social Lion 

Speaking of politics, there is nothing more interesting, and yet 
more despicable, than the efforts to ''get" an official by what I 
term the "interests," or the "Slush Fund" contingent. Every ex- 
pedient is used, every vi^eapon resorted to. There are, of course, 
innumerable ways to corral a public official. It is not always plain 
bribery. I have found there are two very common methods popu- 
lar with the "interests." One is to pamper, cajole, and compli- 
ment. The other is' to break the official's health, his stamina, his 
morale, so that he is physically and mentally unfit to properly 
guard against mistakes. 

First the "interests" try to have the candidates of every party 
friendly to them. They attempt to have all the say before the 
nominations are made. After the nominations are effected, ir- 
respective of political strife, they support the one whom they 
consider the most supine. They play the game hard and some- 
times v/ith deadly accuracy. I have watched the play with mure 
than usual care and I had to. 

If by chance a man is elected whom the "interests" cannot 
handle, a man who is independent of them, then they start after 
him. First they resort to patting on the back and praising him. 
They offer to make him a social lion. They invite him to dinners. 
If he listens to their song, he begins to stay up late, gets little rest 
and sleep, and the next day he has a bad stomach. He has had 
rich food when he should have had a plain, substantial fare. The 
result is, he gets to work later than he should, is irritable and cross 
and in an ugly humor. 

Neglect of work usually follows, and there is less watchfulness 
than is his wont. As a rule, that means mistakes and probably 
being involved in legal tangles. His enemies, ever watchful, then 
request that the official do something and he declines. Right there 
his grip is gone, because the "interests" know of his mistakes and 
they are frank in telling him they know. 

Supposing the official dodges the lionizing trap, keeps his mind 
clear and his stomach right. That means he is in good fettle, is 
on his job, and ever watchful. The mayor to-day has under his 
direct or indirect control thirty-seven departments, and in addition 
he has the chairmanship of many committees. Social climbing or 
ambitions under such circumstances are out of the question. The 
mayor must keep his staff in good humor; he must depend on 
their loyalty, just as he must depend on friends and subordinates. 
He cannot set an example of ill temper. Otherwise he will not 



Criticisms do Not Worry Him 43 

get out of assistants the quality of work and support that is abso- 
lutely essential. 

To follow strictly this policy an official faces attacks from the 
"interests" that are just as despicable as they are insistent. From 
every angle he faces abuse and vilification. Every channel of pub- 
licity is used that can be reached. Attempts are made to turn the 
])eople against the man they have put into office and to drive him 
from his place. 

He is investigated, shadowed, and overshadowed. He is threat- 
ened and grand- juryized, mired and untermired. Scurrilous liter- 
ature and missives are sent to his family, accusing him of all 
manner of indiscretions. Tradesmen, delivering their orders, are 
frequently used as letter-bearers. All this is done, and more, to 
l)reak down the morale of the official, to break him physically and 
n:ientally. Some things which have been done to wreak vengeance 
even on the members of my family are almost beyond belief. 

Mrs. Hylan has not been in the best of health for some time. 
This has been caused, beyond any doubt, by the scurrilous, under- 
hand methods of enemies to create harm. Personally, I never 
have paid any attention to them. They do not bother me, but it 
is indeed a sad commentary on our political fal^ric when such 
scheming is possible. To attempt to strike at an official through 
his family, or the peace of mind of that family, is a favorite 
method, but it is one that never can be condoned. 

Of course, there are other methods used. Not long ago a scheme 
to interest me in a traction matter was used which embraced v 
very good friend of mine. It concerned the traction efforts in 
another city, i discovered, however, what was back of the scheme 
and also that my friend had been the innocent victim of the per- 
petrators. 

Fortunately, I am in a position to weather these storms and 
attacks. When I go to bed, I am asleep in just about one minute. 
Mrs. Flylan, I am sorry to say, worries a little more of what she 
reads and hears, and I occasionally have to explain the ramifica- 
tions of these attacks, the impelling motive back of them. 

Sleep for me always has been the best of all preventives of 
tr(uible, physical and mental. 

I know that the Golden Ruh which my mother taught me has 
])y experience brought as grfiid happiness and comfort to me as 
to those toward whom it was manifested. The doctrine of mutual 
helpfulness and the knowledge that it is more blessed to give than 




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A Friend of the Poor 45 

to receive are the real fundamentals of human happiness. They 
are the things which will lift us out of the pools of moral stag- 
nation bred by the germs of greed and selfishness. 

There is growing a keener appreciation that if there is one 
human attribute sadly needed to-day, and which we may all cul- 
tivate with profit to ourselves, to our neighbors, and to our country, 
it is the good, old-fashioned attribute of charity. It brings us out 
of a narrow, self-centered existence ; it eases the path of those to 
whom fate has been unkind, and it wea\es garlands that bind the 
children of the Father, regardless of race, color, or creed, into a 
helpful and gentle kinship. 

A little more of this spirit of charity and a little less of the 
mad, ignoble scramble for wealth and power will do more to 
repair our injured social fabric than the most learned discourses 
on social justice or political economy. 

In recognition of this I have each Christmastide availed myself 
of the opportunity to issue a proclamation calling the attention of 
the people to the Christmas holidays as a time to be active in 
deeds of charity, to speak the thoughtful word of good cheer and 
encouragement to our neighbor burdened with trials and tribula- 
tions, and to open our hearts to those whom poverty and distress 
have claimed for their own. 

Personal contact has taught me that there are great numbers of 
liomes where dark shadows have fallen and which only require a 
little touch of human interest and kindness to lift the deadening 
gloom. For the children of the poor, groping in the squalor of 
wretched poverty, I have apt)ealed to the great heart of New York 
each Christmas time, never in vain, to bring the smiles back to the 
tired little faces, and have asked in His name that the same love 
be shown to these forgotten waifs of the poor which He ever has 
shown to the least of His children. 

To my physique I owe a great deal. It sometimes has been said 
(hat I was showing some political preferment to my physician. 
I "hat charge was bandied around during the attacks on me. How 
foolish is such a statement in the face of the fact that since i 
came to this city from the mountains I am certain I have not spent 
as much as $20 with any doctor for my own health. Nature has 
etidowed me with health and endurance, and it has been unneces- 
sary for me to cater to the physician. 

Hard work has been my medicine, and my mother's words have 
l)een my guide. Would that she were alive to-day to witness the 
potency of her wisdom. 



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